Iceland in 2010

Area:

103,000 sq km (39,769 sq mi)

Population

(2010 est.): 317,000

Capital:

Reykjavík

Head of state:

President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

Head of government:

Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir

Following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano in early 2010, a plume of steam and ash blanketed the surrounding atmosphere.Brynjar Gauti/APIn 2010 Iceland’s economy continued to suffer from the impact of the collapse of its banking system and crash of its stock market in 2008. The country’s GDP shrank by a further 3% in 2010, following a 6.5% contraction in 2009, though Iceland emerged from recession in the third quarter. Unemployment hovered around 10%, the highest rate in decades.

In April a special investigative commission examining the bank collapse issued a report that exposed a number of shady practices by banks and prominent individuals; both had speculated in the stock market with borrowed funds. The report also revealed a number of other dubious business practices, arousing the anger of the general public. In the wake of the report, many prominent businessmen and bankers fled the country; moreover, the Althingi (parliament) voted for former prime minister Geir H. Haarde to be prosecuted before a special tribunal for negligence of his duties.

At the beginning of 2010, Iceland’s Pres. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson vetoed legislation whereby the Althingi had agreed to repay debts incurred in the U.K. and the Netherlands by a branch of Landsbanki, one of the banks that failed in 2008. The governments of those countries had compensated local depositors when Landsbanki foundered, but, in turn, the British and Dutch governments demanded £2.3 billion ($3.7 billion) and €1.3 billion (nearly $1.9 billion), respectively, in repayment from the Icelandic government. A new agreement was signed with Britain in December.

On March 20 a volcanic eruption broke out in Fimmvörðuháls, a mountain pass in southern Iceland. This event was followed on April 14 by a much larger eruption at Eyjafjallajökull in the same area. The blast at Eyjafjallajökull sent volcanic steam and ash into high altitudes, where it drifted southeast, disturbing air traffic throughout much of northern Europe for the following two weeks.